The present invention relates generally to a method, system, and computer program for preventing vehicle theft. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method, system, and computer program for preventing vehicle theft based on fueling patterns.
Vehicle theft is a major issue around the world resulting in over $4 billion USD worth of loss each year. While vehicle anti-theft systems are now standard on most cars, they can be easily found and disabled. Further, current vehicle anti-theft systems are largely ignored due to their prevalence and ease of being triggered. Also, anti-theft systems lack the ability to alert a car owner directly if the car has been stolen. However, many countries now have a system where vehicles are equipped with cryptographically unique identifiers that can be read wirelessly by a fueling station to charge the vehicle owner for the cost of the fuel and identify/track the fueling processed. These cryptographic identifiers are mainly used as a convenience for fleet vehicles where the fuel is billed to the owning company, but the may be leveraged for preventing vehicle theft.